Crackling Green
by Midnight Axis
Summary: On his seventeenth birthday Draco is subjected to the Malfoy curse that has been set upon his family. Unfortunately for him, it's a curse for a reason and one that tortures his father. Dark!harryInsane!Dumbledore and tne Dark LordThe story is 'T' for now
1. Soul Searching

**By:** Midnight Axis

**Rating: **Mature

**Warning: ** The story is 'T' for now but will almost definately change! May contain M-Preg in the future, but for now just SLASH don't like don't read and no flames. You are forewarned.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters or places. They all go to J.K. Rowling and Scholastic and other people that are in a copyright somewhere...

**Pairing: **DM/HP, and others

**Summary:** On his seventeenth birthday the Malfoy curse has set in and he he has a suspicion of who a curse would put him with. Unfortunately for him it is a curse. Dark!harry Insane!Dumbledore and a Dark Lord that's human again.

**A/N:** This is my first story on this site so be nice and I don't have a beta so I'm apologizing in advance for any mistakes. Thanks for reading! :)

**Chapter One**

The crackling fire rose past the stone top of the open fire place and roared as Harry Potter stepped through in a flash of green. The meeting here was curious in its own way. Dark and the light being brought together, but only one side knew what about. It _was_ Malfoy Manor after all. All purebloods had their secrets.

The Malfoys, being one of the oldest and most prestigious family lines, dating back to before Merlin, had many secrets and over time one big whispered hope was passed down generation to generation. Draco Malfoy had been told one year ago today. Tonight at midnight there was a good chance he'd die.

Dying is a curious word, meaning different things yet almost always has the same definition as no one really cared enough to use the other. Died, dead, and death all have one chilling meaning that human's fear beyond most else. One word, up to five letters that make people want to run and cower under the safest place they can find, as if that could stop anything.

Draco Malfoy was not afraid anymore though. Of course he threw his regular tantrum with the notorious Malfoy temper once he figured it out, but afterwards he couldn't bring himself to care. He couldn't imagine life being happy, only imagining pits of despair as his year moved on. No, Draco Malfoy, wasn't a Veela as so many other pureblood families are. With the Malfoys, it meant so much more than that, and with limited time and almost no room for error, that much more complicated.

The fire still glanced in dancing shadows across the wall and Harry Potter took a moment to watch them, using the symbolisms of the fire to fit into his life that he found rather dreadful. How he hated his life being planned for him. Nothing short, it seemed of joining the Dark Lord as his equal would change that.

He glanced up towards the ceiling as he heard an agonized cry and knew it had to be nearing midnight. The only reason Draco Malfoy would show any weakness anymore was if he had absolutely no control over his senses anymore. Harry started towards the doors of the sitting room and out into the hallway recalling the moments in life that made his life the torture it was now.

DMHPDMHP

The tug was painful. Draco supposed his birthday gift could turn out to be the best he'd ever gotten or the worst depending on the person that appeared in the glass on his wall that he had been staring at all night. When the person he was waiting for, looks in the mirror it would show on Draco's glass and since most people look at the mirror when they get ready in the mornings, morning was Draco's best bet.

The Malfoy secret came into effect on their seventeenth birthday. This was the day that they found the one that they were meant to be with. Forever. Other pureblood families just had Veela mating tendencies but the Malfoys had been either blessed or cursed by a goddess (just depended on who you asked in the family) to find the one meant for them within a year's time or death would agonizingly occur.

Of course you would meet this person within the year limit, as it was supposedly fate, but whether that person actually accepted the said Malfoy could lead to very different verdicts. Malfoy knew the book cover to cover that his parents had given him. If a Malfoy was rejected or insulted by their 'soul' the first time they met as mates he had a high probability of dying, therefore Malfoy was trying to create a better name for himself in the month he had left before school began. He had been sending letters off to some of the pureblooded families around that he had insulted before thinking that his mate would most likely be a member of one of those families.

Malfoy was ready to go to Hogwarts and face his mate, whoever it may be, though this fact could be complicated for he was even more loyal to the dark lord now that he was actually sane. His father had a suspicion that Potter's blood made him slowly become saner but whatever it was most of his followers had become even more devoted. Of course the Lord hadn't lost his touch and still was frightening and horrifying at times, at least he was human.

Malfoy stared off into space. He was ready.

DMHPDMHP

Lord Voldemort twirled his wand through his fingers and waited for Lucius to join him. He was curious about the Malfoy curse and seeing if the potential addition to the Malfoy family would become one of his as well. Or rather the closest thing he had. He knew that Lucius had denied himself a long time ago and took potions every twelve hours to continue his life. The Dark Lord scoffed at this. If he would ever be so lucky as to find the one that was meant for him after all these long years of waiting he would not be denying him or his mate.

But then again, he was a changed person. Now even though he still quite enjoyed torturing and killing the people who deserved it he felt an urge to be human and to have a family and possibly even someone who could care about someone such as he. But there was no one and there would be no one. How could anyone love him? Granted, he was human again but the deeds were done. Sometimes he thought that the reason that he had gone so insane was the fact that when he had been cursed with the Malfoy curse too (There was a good reason for Abraxas's death) he had not found his mate.

He knew Lucius enjoyed torturing his father's portrait daily but sometimes he would ask his portrait of himself just to go over and 'Crucio' the man until the portrait Voldemort was satisfied enough to help him on his schemes. Seeing as the portrait had been painted when he was still insane, the portrait was insane and much the bane of the other portraits. It was odd how the portrait realm could so resemble the real world.

The Dark Lord sat contemplating in his mind wanderings as the door opened to find Lucius Malfoy striding in. "Good news my lord," he said bowing immediately when he saw Voldemort. "I can feel that my son will be very powerful and in turn have a powerful mate."

"This is good, my friend. And now I ask, when you will find your mate?" the dark wizard looked up from the fire at Lucius.

"My Lord?"

"Your 'soul'. I apologize for forgetting the terminology, now answer," he hissed out.

"I will never find my mate again, my lord. I cannot."

"Why deny me Lucius? A fruitless gesture…" The Dark Lord looked straight into the Malfoy's eyes. "Legilimens!"

The Dark Lord saw flashes of what Lucius kept trying to hide and he pulled back to the present. "I see Lucius that you did not think it beneficial to add that your 'soul' is part of the Order of the Pheonix _and_ almost died while you were doing your stint in Azkaban. You owe me for saving your 'soul' Lucius," Voldemort trailed off and suddenly began laughing his high laugh. "How odd that sounded," he murmured.

Lucius just stood there shaking. "I have not told my son who or my ex-wife. I know that this person would never accept me given my affiliations and I will not die while my son needs me! Perhaps when this war is won and my son's 'soul' is well accepted I will finally lay my restless mind to peace. I can only ask that you not harm him for that would surely end me."

Tom Riddle sat in silence gazing at the fire. He spoke carefully, "You are my friend Lucius, call me Tom. I cannot promise what the Death Eaters will do on instinct, but I will see that nothing I can prevent will happen to your 'soul'." He then stood and clasped forearms with the saddened Lucius. "We will prevail and at least you may end with your mate."

The look shining in Lucius's eyes was one that had never been seen before.

DMHPDMHP

-One month later-

Harry was racing to get on the train, he had just come from being thrown out of the car in front of the station, causing a scene, but he didn't care about that now all he cared about was finally escaping and his first order of business was to find what made him happiest.

He had been feeling odd since about a month ago and wasn't quite sure how to describe it, another reason why meeting Hermione would be appreciated at the moment. Life at the Dursley's was as expected as it could have been and he and Dudley had come to a sort of truce and they had started working out together in secret, an upside. The downside was that Vernon Dursley kept thinking that Dudley was under a spell and therefore had started to beat Harry this summer. Pros and cons aside he was just glad to be away.

As he entered through the magic brick tower holding up King's Cross Station, he was ambushed by many people all wanting to say hi to Harry, apparently since they would do nothing about the war themselves, their savior. This just pissed Harry off, so with a tight-lipped smile, Harry pushed his way through the crowd and onto the train, finding an empty compartment, knowing his prefect friends would find him on their rounds.

As he laid his head back on his seat, he glanced out of the window. There on the platform was a vision of beauty and hatred. _Great now Malfoy will just have even more girls fall all over him than normal. Bloody bastard! _And as Harry thought this, he saw Malfoy quickly bring a hand to his chest as if in pain. He couldn't be sure, but it seemed as though Malfoy was looking for someone and a whisper in the back of his mind startled him. _Where are they? They were angry with me weren't they? What did I do?_ The whispers trailed of and Harry just sat there confused, more out of sorts with the world than ever.

DMHPDMHP

Draco had just been standing them when he had felt overwhelming anger sweep through him and with the anger brought him pain. _Great, now his 'soul' probably would reject him when they first met._ His eyes swept the platform and tried to sweep through the compartment windows finally landing on one with Potter in it. He was confused at the urging and decided that once on the train he would look into it further for no matter the outcome he just had to see for himself.

As Draco stepped on the train he knew that his 'soul' was definitely there and apparently around Potter's compartment if that was what the urging to look at that certain compartment had been about. He quickly found Pansy and Blaise with Crabbe and Goyle.

They looked up as he entered and all started a group hug with him. They knew about the Malfoy curse and were anxious to hear about it. So after all the friendly pleasantries they got right down to business. Though they may not show it, Crabbe and Goyle were actually the quickest and brightest thinkers of his friends. A Malfoy did not surround himself with idiots.

"Who are the top possibilities for your 'soul'," came from Crabbe.

"I bet it's in the Golden Trio," Goyle spouted off. "Most mates are and the Malfoy curse seems like it would do that to you."

Draco sighed. "Actually Greg, I think you're right. I felt a pull from the compartment filled with the Golden Boy and his lackeys when I stepped onto the platform. Not to mention that I felt anger when my 'soul' apparently looked at me."

Vincent clasped him on the shoulder. "We're here for you, but I don't think that you want to try looking for anyone on the train, Draco. Too many people in too close quarters and if things get ugly, you're gonna want to have Pomphrey nearby."

Draco almost started sobbing at the thought of his 'soul' rejecting him, the one that was supposed to want him the most. If is 'soul' didn't want him, he didn't deserve anyone.

Pansy and Blaise glanced at eachother. Pansy spoke first. "Draco it has become our mission this year to get you to find your mate and to live happily with them in whichever bliss you desire. We don't care if you're straight, bent or whatever bloody orientation there is nowadays. We're here for you!" The rest of the group happily concurred.

"Thank you guys so much. I don't deserve you."

"Come on! You know once your mate, 'soul', I keep forgetting, gets past their prejudices and sees the real you they'll have no choice to love you for who you really are!" As this left Blaise's mouth, everyone just stared at him.

Greg spoke first, "Either you've matured or gone crazy it doesn't really matter just don't do that randomly again without warning. I think we've all gone into shock at the thought that you might have actually said something intelligent."

And with that statement all the sober conversation dried up as Blaise flung himself at Goyle trying to hit him while simultaneously trying not to annoy Pansy's very irate cat that normally liked clawing any flesh within reach.

They soon reached Hogsmead and scrabbled into the carriage pulled by the thestrals and as one the happy Slytherin group entered the Great Hall. Draco tried to ignore the pulls but couldn't help but look around once and awhile once arriving at the Slytherin table, in the vain attempt that it would be made easy by being a Slytherin who all worhshipped him especially as he now was a seventh year and one of the most powerful students at the school. Being a Malfoy had its perks.

As the group sat through the mandatory speech and sorting of the first years, Blaise and Pansy were whispering to each other like crazy. Draco would have thought that they were going out if not for the fact that they were decidedly both gay and had their respective crushes on people that they refused to name. This made Draco think that they were somewhere close to the Golden trio or maybe part of it from the way they vehemently refused to tell their secret. Draco thought this rather unfair considering he was the one that had his entire life spread out for them to see.

Draco couldn't decide how he would feel if his friends hooked up with the Golden Trio but as he thought this a feeling of possessiveness came over him as he thought of Blaise and Potter… Harry seemed to fit better. After this unsettling thought came more unsettling feelings as he thought about how he wanted to murder Blaise for touching Harry.

This was beginning to all fall into place all to well with all the clues. Despairing as he knew that now his life hardly had a chance of working out for the better he turned to his plate of food. He had thought that maybe the Malfoy curse would have gone easy on him but it seemed almost worse than his father's.

His father's situation annoyed Draco. The only reason his father had stayed alive and not attempted to approach his mate for twenty-five years had been the bitch of his mother getting him drunk and having sex with him. Knowing his father had pretty much been raped for his position and power in society as well as his beauty saddened Draco and brought up boiling hate for his mother at the same time.

Draco glanced over towards his most likely mate and saw Harry glancing over at him and with a flash of annoyance looking away again. Oh yeah, that hurt. Harry Potter savior of the Light side of the war, wanted for dead by his master, and all around mortal enemy was his 'soul'. Go Malfoy curse. You really landed a whopper this time.


	2. Thoughts

Sorry for the wait. Thank you to the people that are reading! And on with the story...

DMHPDMHP

Ron Weasley was curious. He had always felt an attraction to Hermione but lately it was just one of great friendship. In a way, he felt like he had just been in a relationship and then mutually decided to end it, but he wasn't sure Hermione felt the same. She would still brush up against him in the hallway or whisper 'hello' in a weird way in his ear each morning. Maybe that was normal for girls.

When he had dated Lavender, she had seemed really hurt, and he had felt bad for hurting her but he hadn't felt bad for experimenting. He hadn't been interested in anyone for a long time and now he was starting to think that friendships with more people would help him move on with his life. He didn't know what was what anymore especially since Seamus and Dean had gotten in a fight over him. It had come as a huge shock when he figured out that they were dating and it had taken him a while to accept it. It wasn't like he had a problem with them being gay as that was fairly common but it was his friends and he wasn't used to change.

Change had never really been good. As soon as he was content, something always seemed to happen. At first he had blamed it on Harry, but he knew it wasn't fair and that Harry would make his life more important than it would have been otherwise. He could also make a difference in the war even if it meant hurting himself and his family, though this thought made him grave every time he thought about it.

Lately Dumbledore had seemed to be losing more and more and making crazier attempts to win the war. This disturbed him but not enough to doubt the powerful Light wizard. After all, he was the wizarding worlds unofficial leader no matter who was the Minister of Magic. Then again if Harry said something, Ron was pretty sure that the wizarding world would listen to him more than the old wizard if only for the fact that he was their "Savior".

Life was complicated but he was glad to just be left alone for a while.

DMHPDMHP

Fred and George Weasley were keeping their shop up to standards and coming out with new projects every week. Who knew there were so many ideas out there for pranking people and the joking market. They had quite a few adults come in each day and the Ministry was still buying their invisible clothes and they had quite a few other things that could be useful. Well most of their stuff would be useful to the Aurors and the Ministry if they would just use them effectively.

Fred and George thought that they had made a good choice in life and were quite the playboys in their own right, but they always felt like there was something more for them out there. Fred thought that it would still come and George just refused to get his hopes up of ever finding the right one for them. The twins actually preferred one lover between the two of them but were in no way into twincest or anything like that. They were actually quite appalled at anyone who insinuated anything of that nature. Couldn't they just have a brotherly relationship without people, especially Muggle-borns attacking them for their choices?

They were looking for someone that was not so into the war or for their dear friend Harry. They were sick of the war and thought that Dumbledore was going quite barmy. Lately the "Dark" side hadn't been attacking needlessly and they felt that maybe it was time to switch sides. But were they really willing to give up their freedom to someone that they knew as an insane monster? So right now the option was open for them.

The first month of Hogwarts proved to be a very weird experience for the Golden Trio and especially Harry. The Slytherin Ice Prince and his cronies were actually being nice to them and the first meeting had been so much of a surprise to their classmates that they had actually named the day "The Apocalypse" in such disbelief that the day even happened.

The Slytherins had approached the Gryffindors in the library and everyone had held their breaths as anticipation peaked right before what they expected to be a fight of epic proportions as the two opposing groups had not seen the other side since the last term. What had really happened was so simple that it really had seemed like the end of the world.

Harry, Ron and Hermione had been sitting at their usual table in the southwest corner of the library as Harry enjoyed looking out of the window down to the courtyard and out into the dusky depths of the Forbidden Forest and not the mention the usually gleaming sky that just seemed to call to him. Malfoy, Parkinson, Zabini, and Malfoy's hulking bodyguards had walked up to them. Harry had turned and stared at Malfoy and vice versa each waiting for the other party to say something, both in an awkward, tense silence.

Draco remembered looking into his 'soul's' eyes and wanting to just be held by Harry but knowing the impossibilities of the situation. Suddenly Harry had drawn his wand and hexed Malfoy. Time stood still for a moment and then Malfoy turned looking as if he was about to cry, and pretty much ran out of the library with neon pink hair. Pansy wuickly went after him with a nod to the other Slytherins.

Crabbe and Goyle, surprisingly, didn't crack their knuckles threateningly, they just looked at Harry in a meaningful way and then spoke. This was a massive occasion in itself especially since it wasn't in grunts, "If you find out don't hurt him just kill him quickly and be done with it." It was Crabbe who had spoken and then Zabini piped in. "Not if, when. The Dark Lord will be displeased if Draco has to suffer as much as his father has." With that, the Slytherins swept away without returning a single hex, leaving the Golden Trio and all of the surrounding people gaping like goldfish and yes this included Madame Pince.

Harry and Ron muttered back and forth about the encounter while Hermione leapt to her feet searching for a book. There had been something suspicious about Malfoy and when his father had been brought into it, no matter how it just sounded that he was Crucio'd one too many times, she still felt a sense of obligation to make sure nothing was amiss about Malfoy's reaction to Harry.

DMHPDMHP

Malfoy ended up curled in a ball on his bed's windowsill, hair still a shocking pink and Pansy trying to talk to him.

"Draco, you can't take that as rejection or you will die! If you're going to give up now then start your potions so you don't have to suffer as much as your father." The potion only suspends the life of the Malfoy taking it so you still felt the pain that you felt when you took the potion. Snape had been trying for years to improve his potion, but whatever he did nothing was improved for his father. Draco knew he had to at least try to have a better life and he had to try to at least be friends with his 'soul' even if it brought him pain for the rest of his, he just wanted a chance at happiness. So he decided to talk to Pansy. Just having someone there for him in the next year and for the rest of his life when Harry decided that he didn't want him was what he really needed right now.

They stayed up talking on the windowsill late into the evening and when Blaise came upstairs he was able to change Malfoy's hair back to its original pure blond for which Draco had been clinging to as a messed up link to Harry. They had to keep prying Draco's fingers back to end the hex. This ended up being harder than they thought. Apparently Harry was more powerful than Crabbe, Goyle, and Blaise combined. It had taken Pansy as well as them to get the fake coloring out of Draco's hair.

DMHPDMHP

Harry and Ron played chess and other random wizarding games the rest of the evening mind still subconsciously on the encounter with Malfoy and the expression on his face as he had fled from the library after Harry hand jinxed him. Why had Malfoy looked as if Harry had almost stabbed him? Did that jinx really hurt him? Did he miscast it? And what was with Crabbe and Goyle actually speaking? What about what they were saying? Was it random or was did truth lie in its meaning? Whatever. Hermione would figure it out. And with that Harry stopped worrying about Malfoy and began to promptly kick Ron's butt at the fascinating game of the Wizard's version of LIFE.

And soon after Harry's character flew through to the Old Crackpot's retiring home on a old Shooting Star broom, Harry soon relapsed into thinking.

DMHPDMHP

Tom sat in his office contemplating his next move in the war. No matter how much he seemed to have regained his humanity, he still loathed the fact that Muggles would destroy them if they could and while he didn't intend to kill them all anymore, he did intend to rescue the Muggle borns from where they would grow up with prejudices and hatred for things that they judged abnormal.

Dumbledore thought that they could just continue living like this, the way they had been living for centuries, in fear and hatred, and now living to be influenced by the Muggles to not accept aspects of wizarding history such as "Dark" magic. Magic had never been dark or light. This fact the Dark Lord was hesitant to concur with. There seemed to be that much more that seemed to be affected by Dark magic and after all he was the _Dark_ Lord.

He wanted more recruiters. He wanted more people to listen and to understand, not the lies being thrown about by lemon-drop-crazed wizards. He wanted more people to see that this life that he wanted to create was better and that Dumbledore had been fooling them all along, that they needed to get out there and show the Muggles that they would not bend to their wishes any longer. This wouldn't be done through killing aimlessly anymore he needed to speak. He thought Hogwarts would be appropriate.

The thought had just fluttered across his mind but the more he thought the more he _knew_, and he knew that this would be the way. He started planning it really wouldn't be that challenging as long as he got the first step right, getting to Potter.

So that's it for now. Sorry for the shortness. Ill most likely either update tomorrow or tonight! And thank you so much for reviewing. You really made a difference. 3


	3. The Dark, The Light, and the Nuetral

A/N: Right now I'm keeping it the rating at 'T' but later on in the story that will almost definitely change. Thank you so much for reviewing!

Snape's class started earlier than usual on the Monday following "The Hair" incident or "The Beginning of the War" as many people had started calling it. The Gryffindor Trio and The Slytherin Ice Prince had finally begun their battle this year. It was an exciting moment for all houses. Snape had stormed into his dungeons ten minutes early for class and from that point on counted anyone who arrived tardy and started sapping points from them each minute the students were late, and seeing how Harry had been held up by Professor McGonagal in the hall, just because he had to turn his frog into a snake instead of their prophesized animal that they had been researching in Trelawny's class, almost fifty points had been taken from Gryffindor by the time he got there. Which just pissed Harry off. Just because McGonagal and Trelawney had to hate each other didn't mean that he had to be caught up in the middle of their cat fights.

As he entered the room he immediately scanned it for Malfoy to see if his hair had turned back yet and disappointingly it had. He met Malfoy's eyes briefly and was almost shocked to see the quiet hurt in his eyes. The hurt angered him. What right did Malfoy have to be hurt? What right did he have to continue torturing Harry? Though to be fair… Malfoy hadn't really done anything to him for the past year. It just seemed natural to want to hate Draco and right now he saw the hate that he sent across the room at Malfoy being returned as only sadness._ Stupid Malfoy_.

"Potter! Get to your seat before another fifty points are handed to Gryffindor. It was at this point that he realized he had been standing there just looking at Malfoy for several long seconds. He shook his head and stalked to his seat.

In this class he had Ron sitting next to him most times but right now it looked as if he had switched with Hermione. Harry didn't know what to make of that. He was pretty sure that they didn't like eachother anymore from what he had seen, but it wasn't like anyone told Harry anything. He was just their tool, their weapon to save them in their time of need and still didn't feel any remorse for raking him over the hot press coals every other month.

He leaned his head against the grimy potions desk until he heard Snape say quite snidely in his ear," If you are quite finished sitting next to Longbottom, as I'm sure that all you want to do is hold hands under the table, I would _appreciate it, if you would follow my directions!"_ Snape really was in a bad moos today so Harry decided to play it safe.

"I'm quite sorry Professor. Where would you like me to sit?" he said in a most courteous manner.

"I instructed you to pair up with , as I'm sure that you and Longbottom would end up being charged for murdering a classroom of students if left to your own devices paired with Longbottom," Snape hissed out, looking ready to murder Harry himself. Harry dragged himself up from his seat and scooped up his belongings from the disgusting Potion's floor. _How hard could it be to just use a 'Scourgify' once and while_, Harry thought bemusedly. He trudged over to Malfoy and sank into the seat.

"Alright so what are we supposed to do now?" Harry asked Malfoy begrudgingly. When the young Malfoy didn't answer he looked up and saw a sort of odd despair in his worn down features. "Malfoy?" he asked hesitantly.

"Are you really going out with Longbottom? You know that he's a traitor and that he would do anything to get into your pants right?" was what came out in a rush from the blond figure sitting next to Harry.

Harry nearly hexed Malfoy right then and there. "If you don't shut your ugly trap right this bloody moment, I'll hex it closed. Understand? Neville is far better than you could ever be!" and with that Harry looked towards the board reading the regulations of the project that they were supposed to be creating and with a huff he went off to the Potions cabinet to look for most of the ingredients as the potion that he wanted to make would need some rarer Potions ingredients than he kept. He didn't look at Malfoy once and when he came back, Malfoy was gone and he received glares that would probably mean that his death would be coming sooner than he wanted it to, from Malfoy's little troop. It didn't help that Ron and Hermione were giving him slightly confused but astounded looks while the rest of the classmates tittered until Snape shut them up rather quickly. He spent the rest of the lesson figuring out how to brew the most complicated potion he had ever attempted, alone. He was always so alone.

DMHPDMHP

After Harry had spouted off those words that cut into his heart deeply, he had fled. He knew Snape would chew him out for it later and then kill him for what he must have figured out by now. Harry Potter was his 'soul' and there was nothing he could do about it.

He decided to retreat ever further into the castle having no clue where he was going. It wasn't like he knew where his life was going either.

At lunch he went down to his Care of Magical Creatures class. Once again, to his ever confusing feelings, he had the entire Monday with the Gryffindors. Why was he depressed yet exhilarated at seeing Harry again.

As the other students began to pour out of the caste he started towards Hagrid's cabin from the lake, a reasonably far walk, so even when he half jogged, he was still a minute late for class, panting and out of breath. After Hagrid had admonished him, Hagrid showed them what they were to be working with today. During this all, Draco permanently kept his eyes forward, trying not to look or thing about the enigma that was Harry Potter. But he was not so lucky as Harry ended up approaching him.

"Malfoy! Where do you get off leaving me to deal with an important project and an irate Snape while you skive off class! Harry angrily whispered.

"Look," he began hesitantly. "I needed to leave. I have something wrong with me and I couldn't deal with you at the moment." Harry still looked furious but at that moment one of the wyverns that they were supposed to be feeding leapt towards them.

-Stop- Harry commanded to the surprise of most of the class. Many had forgotten that he had Salazar Slytherin's tongue under his belt of accomplishments, if you could call it that.

The wyvern cocked his head hesitantly at Harry for a brief second, and that was all Hagrid needed to catch it before the wyvern changed his mind about hesitating.

"Forgo' that din't I? Wyverns 're part dragon part snake. Makes 'o' bit a sense tha' yer communicatin." With that Hagrid left both Harry and Malfoy standing awkwardly while the class around them mumbled and slowly went back to their own business.

"You realize that being Dark is not bad right? It only has reputation because of Dumbledore's policies." Draco stated abruptly, breaking the silence.

"Dark magic is evil. All it does it hurt people and those who use it," was the response.

"You realize that sound quite brainwashed of you. Dark magic is just a form of magic just like Neutral and Light. In fact you have an affinity to it otherwise you wouldn't be able to do parseltongue or if you worked hard enough at it, parselmagic." Harry contemplated this for a moment. He couldn't really trust anything Malfoy had to say but before he got past this thought, Malfoy reached into his bag and pulled out a book, The Origin of All Magic read the front cover.

"Here," he said handing it to Harry. "This will prove what I'm saying and there are others if you want to read them. There are obscure references in other books but the library doesn't have any inclusive magical books on the separation of powers and their affinities. Just look, will you?" and with that the bell echoed from the castle and the class departed for the free period before dinner.

Harry walked back towards the Gryffindor dormitories to drop off the bag and the book before going out to the common room to see if Ron or Hermione wanted to go practice for the next DA meeting with him in the Room of Requirement. As they walked down the hallway, Harry soon noticed a witch following them through painting after painting. This got bloody annoying so he stopped abruptly and hissed at the witch, not even aware of himself doing so.

-Why are you following us you old bat!-

The witch raised her eyebrows and answered back in the same manner. –I am trying to help you. You seem unaware of what path is better for you to choose and the strange attraction you feel towards the Malfoy boy isn't helping anything is it? You don't know who to trust anymore and certainly not your friends not in the past years. You realize that they've really been doing is keeping an eye on you for Dumbledore though I think they really are your true friends in life and that you should probably forgive them, but that's another story. Not to mention that you know that young Malfoy could very well be telling the truth.-

Ron and Hermione were staring between the purple and black robed witch in the astoundingly ironic portrait of old Salem, and Harry who seemed almost hesitant towards the witch. They wished they could understand. It seemed to be one of the most intense conversations that Harry had ever had in his life at Hogwarts and they were missing it!

Harry didn't know what to think of the witch. She seemed to be reading his subconscious, what he really thought behind all the fog that had been in his mind for too long. The witch chuckled and at Harry's demand, she explained,-I created by someone and you really do know who sent me. You recognize my magical signature. You are strong enough for most anything and even if you don't know what many things are yet, realize that you are special and hardly anyone has the power you do. I will be your guide for awhile Harry until you realize the truth. Truth, honesty, and trust are all such fickle beings, don't you think?- With that last parting shot, she disappeared, probably to one of her other portraits around the castle.

Harry stood there in silence until an irate Ron and Hermione started firing off questions.

DMHPDMHP

Lucius Malfoy didn't have a 'soul'. _So ironic. I gave up my 'soul' for I knew I couldn't have a soul for what must be done. My 'soul' would have never understood and I would have never been able to change their mind. It was a "curse after all". But what torture must I endure before the end…_ Lucius Malfoy was drunk. He spent most of his evenings like that. Being without a 'soul' would do that for you. He wished he son would never go through what he did. There rarely was a Malfoy that could actually complete their soul. He knew his son would be wishing for the end just as he did.

Being a follower of the Dark Lord normally made people run for cover. Most of the public pretty much guessed that the Malfoys were still in the Dark Lord's favor. It was good to be so and good for their cause, but you still had to wonder if happiness was the right sacrifice so that the future Malfoys might have a chance at what had always escaped him.

Lucius was devoted to his lord and that would not change. He loathed Narcissa. She had tricked him into a love potion that ended up making them get married. Without that love potion he could have had a chance of convincing his 'soul', but now as he looked back, the Dark Lord had been rather more insane in those days and would not have been the best to introduce his 'soul' to in the hopes that his 'soul' would accept his master.

Alone in the world but for his cause.

DMHPDMHP

Gred and Forge were above their shop conversing what they had just seen and overheard. Apparently the Dark Lord wasn't so insane as they thought and while they had listened to the two men whispering as they walked down the street, they weren't sure what to believe. They knew as much as to not believe in the Light anymore. The Light hadn't served their family any good and they were pretty sure that that wouldn't change any time soon. They needed information.

The two blokes walking down the street had obviously been staged, but what made their curiosity grow was that they had been set up for them. Was this the Order testing them, or was this the Dark Lord's way of asking for their loyalty. Why them? If the Death Eaters needed their projects and sales items so much they would order them. They were already pretty bloody sure that the Dark Lord had been buying their goods for awhile now, a fact that they hadn't mentioned to the Order members when they came around.

Their next step would be tricky, they would try to get into the Dark Lord's manor as Death Eaters and overhear a meeting. Of course they couldn't get into the inner circle. The Dark Lord could probably count if he was capable of taking over wizarding Britain. They needed to know the truth. They wanted to help in this war, even though they were pretty sure that dear Harry would rather be neutral at the moment considering how Dumbledore manipulated him and the Dark Lord killed his parents.

They would have to first create temporary working Dark marks or they needed to capture two Death Eaters and honestly they couldn't think which would be more fun.

DMHPDMHP

Lord Voldemort chuckled. It seemed the Weasley Twins had indeed been eavesdropping on the conversation he had set up for them. This was working out well. He wondered what they would do next depending on their cautiousness and their natural deviancy.

DMHPDMHP

It was midnight and he had spelled the window open feeling the night breeze drift over him from the dark tangled forest that lay on the Hogwart's grounds. He sighed, thinking over the events of the day and decided that maybe he should see how much of these new ideas introduced to him were real or fake. He dug under his bed for a second then brought up the book. The binding creaked as he slowly opened it, portraying age old secrete within its pages.

A/N: Hey thanks for reading, that's it for now. A new update should be up fairly soon, probably tomorrow. I'd really appreciate it if you'd review and to those who have reviewed so far I'm glad you liked it. This will probably end up having from 30-40 chapters so keep reading!


	4. Magical Cores

Sorry for the wait being so long. I caught a virus so my heart wasn't really in it. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy.

Severus Snape just sat there seething. His life was almost living hell. He towed the line between dark and light and it was wearing on him so much that one day very soon he would probably just wish for death. He knew that the Dark Lord had the better cause, but the wizarding world was enraptured by Albus Dumbledore and he had to please his lord. Unfortunately that meant not dying. His life had always been one torture after the next and even when he found his only and best friend, Potter had taken that small saving grace away from him.

Harry Potter was an enigma t Snape. He couldn't figure the boy out, and Severus could figure everything out. Everything. It didn't matter how long it took but he eventually knew the answers. The young Potter seemed to not want to be the center of attention no matter what his actions said. Snape saw the look in the young man's eye whenever confronted with an adoring fan. Polite but still annoyed. Then again, maybe Potter just thought he was above these lowly admirers like his father. Whatever the case he could not say that he hated the boy, especially as now that he was reasonably sure that Potter was his godson, Draco's, 'soul'.

Severus almost laughed at that. The Malfoy's however annoying they could be, paid their price for their arrogance in the form of that curse that he was trying to help them with. The Malfoys were all brats. There was hardly any more to it. No matter what they did, they could not put aside their prejudices until it was literally forced into them. Well this was the curse that did that, and considering who the elder Malfoy's 'soul' was, he was quite glad that Lucius hadn't gotten over his arrogance yet. Severus didn't think that he could ever accept who Lucius's 'soul' was meant to be.

DMHPDMHP

The Dark Arts fascinated Harry as he began to read about them. Well rather, not the Dark Arts but the way they were used and the source of all magic without the labels of good or evil. Harry struggled internally with the dilemma of not seeing the world black and white anymore and struggled that he actually was curious about Malfoy.

He hadn't really seen Malfoy around but somehow he felt like he was there. This frustrated Harry to no end so now at the start of the weekend, Harry was quite crabby from the mental yo-yo he had been on all week. Classes hadn't helped his stress level either. Harry tried applying what he was reading about in Malfoy's book in class and had figured out with the help of the book that he had an affinity towards dark magic. Of course the thought that crossed Harry's mind most frequently was the notion that this could all be an elaborate farce that was a way of getting the Golden Boy into the Dark Lord's clutches.

The witch in the painting continued to stalk Harry endlessly and Harry had actually taken to talking to the old bat from time to time. Her portrait fascinated Harry. It was filled with lights cast in shadows. So brilliant but so evil at the same time, he had never seen before. The lights were being consumed by the dark, but instead of making the painting ugly grays or portraying horrifying scenes, the portrait grew more beautiful and you could actually see the power emanating from the shadows. What disturbed Harry the most, was the fact that the witch said that the lights being overcome with shadows was his soul and that Harry should embrace it for it would make his life change for the better. Harry didn't know what to think when he heard this statement. He only knew that it held appeal and that made him want to scream all at the same time.

At this moment in time Harry was in Defense against the Dark Arts when he realized that without a doubt, whether it was from the bit of Voldie-pants inside of him or not, he loved casting dark magic.

Harry was dueling Ron and while Ron was on the defense, Harry was assigned with the duty of attacking Ron so that he had to defend himself in a manner that would befit a battle. Harry had decided to be nice but Ron still was failing miserably. The DADA professor saw this and then immediately switched Ron and Draco out with each other.

At this point Harry decided that holding back was fruitless as they were enemies anyway and he figured that he may as well get damage in without it counting against him. Most likely it would even count for him, so he decided to use one of the dark spells he saw written as examples for various forms of magic.

"_Bind Conquistare!"_ was thrown from Harry's wand. 'Bind and Conquer' This would end their duel with him as the undoubted victor if it worked. It was supposed to completely enrapture the opponent within themselves then start making them see what they feared most in the world. But Draco dodged and though it seemed almost painful for him he fought back. _Hmm Malfoy, play around with Parkinson a bit too much last night?_ drifted through Harry's mind, but as soon as it did a feeling of contempt for Parkinson set in pretty strongly. Harry didn't have time to analyze this occurrence for at that moment came a euphoric rush as Draco and Harry began a Dark Arts duel. Ironic.

The professor looked horrified at what was occurring and only when the bell rang did Draco and Harry stop. They looked at each other with a sort of respect in the other's eyes and the glint of a secret that they both now shared. The rest of the class had just stopped to watch with awe. The battle had apparently been _that_ impressive, Harry was told later.

After class the professor called them to the front and immediately set into them, lecturing, all the while starting to herd them through the corridors of students. Draco had no clue what was happening and looked bewildered at being lectured by the dud of a professor, but Harry recognized the path and realized that off the Headmaster's office they went.

As the professor spoke the password and they climbed the steps, Harry thought of all the perspectives that Dumbledore could take and even though Dumbledore was a trusted mentor, Harry didn't want to share this newly found aspect of his life and decided to hold it against his side for the time being as long as it didn't become dangerous.

DMHPDMHP

Dumbledore watched the two young men being carted into the office by the idiotic professor he had hired, and couldn't believe his eyes. He saw dark magic centered on the magical cores of two of the wizards that had just entered the room. You didn't get magic like that centered on your magical core unless you performed the magic that attached itself. Magic that attached was normally suited for your magical abilities. Harry Potter had dark magic all around him. How did the boy, his tool for defeating the creature he loathed, the brat that he molded into the perfect hero, become enriched with the dark? With one glance Albus knew the answer. It lay with the Malfoy child.

At this moment he was looking at Harry with worry but it wasn't for his own skin, well there was that mixed in, no, mostly it was worry for the Savior of the wizarding world. This child had begun to care for Harry and in that infatuation he must have imparted knowledge. This couldn't go on. The Malfoy child would have to go.

DMHPDMHP

As Draco entered the office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts he glanced towards Harry. His 'soul' seemed normal but he couldn't be sure. He didn't know Harry well enough yet and that fact grated against his nerves. He had to figure out a way to get closer to Harry without the boy freaking out. This whole situation could kill him, granted, if he didn't get Potter…Harry's approval. He just couldn't call Harry by his last name anymore than he could worry about himself more than Harry. Draco worried about Harry's happiness. He worried that he wouldn't be the right person for him and that maybe he should just give up so Harry could have the Weasley girl. But this thought tore at his heart too much to continue while there were others in the room.

"Greetings," proclaimed Albus Dumbledore. Draco wanted to sneer. The old coot that was ruining his 'soul' repulsed him down to his core. "May I ask what you are doing here this fine day? Lemon drop?" Dumbledore inquired but Draco saw the gleam in the old man's eye and would bet that the old coot knew exactly what they were doing there and wasn't too happy about it. The pathetic professor stepped up.

"These two were using dark magic in a duel and continued past any instruction not to."

"Is this true boys?" Dumbledore asked, now with a twinkle in his eye. Draco didn't know what Harry was making of this and he wasn't even sure that Harry hadn't already told Dumbledore about the book and shared. Maybe he should have rethought that. This could bring trouble upon his family and the Dark Lord. Harry spoke before Draco.

"Yes sir, but we stopped when everyone else did. Malfoy was teaching me how to defend against the more common of the Death Eater's curses. He has been very helpful and no harm has befallen anyone," Harry proclaimed with a clear strong voice that sent shivers down Draco's spine and made him start thinking thoughts that shouldn't be thought in front of old coots.

"Ah," said the old coot. "And is that all? Thank you for helping Harry, Mr. Malfoy, but I must ask you not to attempt this again. It is dangerous and corrupt magic that students should not be playing around with. I'm afraid that I will have to give you both detention with the professor and 20 points off from each house for you behavior and ignoring a teacher's instructions." Though everyone in the room looked as if they wanted to protest this statement, they decided to let it be and just walk away. It was obvious that Dumbledore thought that Malfoy would never try again as Malfoy had been known to be sensitive on losing points, but what Dumbledore didn't dare to realize is that Draco would give up everything for Harry, he just didn't know if that was going to be his downfall or not.

With bows or inclined heads in the case of Harry and Draco, they left and started down towards the hall to eat. The professor parted with them at the stairs with a glare towards them both as if the annoying headmaster was their fault, and Harry and Draco continued downstairs. Before they reached the Entrance hall, Draco pulled Harry aside to speak to him.

"How are you doing with the book? Do you understand? Do you want me to help with anything?"

Harry looking bewildered and a bit outraged, pushed Draco as far away from him as possible and shouted, "Get away from me you prat! How dare you talk to me like that! Don't talk to me ever again you complete git!" With that Harry started walking hurriedly away from the commotion not even bothering to check over his shoulder at Draco who had quite literally burst into tears.

While Pansy and Greg consoled him, Blaise and Vincent went after Potter and they met with him right inside the Great Hall. "What is your deal! Can't you understand how hard this is for him! Of course not… he hasn't told you has he…but how could you do that! He trusted you and all you're doing is hurting him!" Blaise yelled in Potter's face.

The Gryffindors had closed in now and were starting the menacing glares while Potter just sort of stood there looking lost. Blaise and Vincent shook their heads and made their ways out of the Hall and towards the place where they knew Draco went to hide, leaving everyone else just standing there.

"Harry, are you alright, man?" was asked several times before he nodded and everyone started insulting all the Slytherins. Harry was the only one who heard the disappointed hiss from behind him.

"-Someday you will regret what you like saying to that poor boy. Don't insult what you do not understand-…" Harry found this very unfair of the witch and decided to ignore her for the rest of the day.

Hey so that's Chapter 4. I hope it was ok for you guys. I'll start getting more into the big plot next time. This chapter was mainly filler and Drarry angst. Sorry for taking so long. Next one should be up sooner. Thank you to all of the reviewers. Reviews make me write faster!

Isabelledward: Me either Thanks for the encouragement!

MDarKspIrIt: Thanks, I really do try. I'll probably start uploading more stories after we get to the 10th chapter or so. :)

LIGHTNSHADOWS: I'm thinking we need angst for awhile. Either it's that I'm cruel or that when I see Harry and Draco suddenly become bffs in other fanfics it annoys me, we'll never know… And for the Lucius situation, he's already given up, but maybe Harry's connections will help him find his 'soul' again. It's so fun fitting "soul" into sentences. Thanks for reviewing!

MastaNinjaTobi: I'm glad you like it. Like I said it's fun fitting "soul" into places that just make it sound wierd. :)


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